


Road Less Traveled

by callmearenegade



Series: Motorcycle AU [1]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Motorcycle AU, Tumblr: ImaginexHobbit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-30
Updated: 2016-09-30
Packaged: 2018-08-18 18:12:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8171051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/callmearenegade/pseuds/callmearenegade
Summary: Tessa has been on a long adventure. Now that it's over, Tessa has to bring her mind and life back together.





	

**Author's Note:**

> let me know if you want more. I have a lot more of this i could write. sorry it's so short/

Even the slight blow of the AC on her face brought the memories back. She could feel the wind in her hair and the engine rumbling below her as the wheels raced along the pavement. She could feel the slight burn on her cheeks from the wind and sun. Her lips were still chapped, her skin still tanned. She could almost feel the adrenaline build in her chest but there was that fear again. The fear she thought had gone away before. She could feel the scream of joy begging to rise in her chest but she wasn’t there.

“ I still can’t believe YOU went on a 55 day long road trip with a motorcycle gang!” He shouted, scandalized. 

His hair was sticking up at odd angles as he side-eyed her with crazy eyes crazy eyes. It was the same tone he had used when she had called him to make the 2 hour- make that 4 with the heavy traffic- car journey to come get her.

“They weren’t a motorcycle gang.” He rolled his eyes at her response. She could understand his anger, his annoyance. It was all entirely unexpected, even for her.She had left the house, a note all that explained her absence and called back 55 days later for a ride.

“ They are a group of motorcycle enthusiasts called ‘The Company’.” She stated, eyes out the window, ears catching the sound of a motorcycle passing by a few lanes over, splitting a lane as it cut through the traffic. Normally she would have scoffed and said how stupid and dangerous it was, today, it made her smile.  
***  
Norther California traffic: Ridiculous. Short, simple, to the point, terrible. They had gone through 50 days of this trip and not a single day had they been this deep in traffic. 12 motorcycles, an overstuffed mini van and at least 100 other cars stuck bumper to bumper. Kili groaned and rested his head against the steering wheel.

“ I shouldn’t have let Ori drive the bike today.” He groaned. The boy hated being cooped up. He had only been sitting behind the wheel for 15 minutes in the stopped traffic and he was already getting antsy.

“ Patience, Kili.” Tessa chastised as she scrolled through her phone. The dark haired boy grumbled and rested against the seat with eyes closed.

A knock on the passenger window pulled the two from their silence. Thorin waved an anxious hand and Kili lowered the window. Thorin pulled the black mask of his helmet up, blue eyes showing annoyance.

“ Any ideas how long this is going to take?” He grumbled, voice muffled by the helmet.

“ Yeah, any idea how long this is going to take!?” Kili complained.  
Tessa rolled her green eyes and scrolled on her phone some more.  
“ Looks like a ten car pile up a few miles ahead. Looks like hours.” Tessa shouted, not missing the dropping shoulders of the 12 motorcyclists and the near scream Kili let out.

“ But-” Tessa smiled, “ There is a turn off about a mile ahead, a small side road. It will take longer than planned to get to the hotel,” Tessa held the phone to the leader.

“ But it will be better than hours in traffic.” Thorin agreed.

Thorin turned and called to the group behind him, the plan spilling from his lips. With the group smiling in agreeance, Thorin revved the engine of his bike again. The black 1949 Harley Davidson FL roared to life and buzzed past the van in a blur. Fili followed, then Nori, and Ori - on Kili’s bike- and the rest.

Kili rocked again and tinkered with the radio. Nothing but static could be heard as he sped through the stations. The boy growled and dropped his head against the steering wheel.

“ At least, we’re in this together.” Kili sighed and Tessa laughed. The sound of an engine cut through it and a matte black Triumph rocket 3 rolled up beside the van. The black helmet may have hidden the face, but the worn black leather jacket told true who was under it. Even before it came off. Tessa’s eyes smiled with excitement.

“ Want to blow this Popsicle stand? Or you going to stay here with-” Tessa pulled the door open. Dwalin gave her the signature sideways smirk and handed his extra helmet to her. Her dark hair quickly disappeared under the helmet and a long red covered leg flew over the back of the bike.

“ Tessa!” Kili shouted. She responded with a peace sign before gripping the strong body of the man in front of her as he revved the engine and began to move.  
**  
“ I need to pee.” Jackson grumbled and pulled over into a small rest stop. She knew how far they were from home. Or what had once been ‘home’. They should have been there already, but the traffic had been thick and Jackson hadn’t been one for talking. 4 hours of sitting had left Tessa cramped and grouchy. She used to be able to sit for hours, now, after the trip, she couldn’t sit in a car for very long. She blamed it on Ori’s ever tilted bladder and near constant needs for stops. Tessa tried to stay in the car. She traced the ever faded pattern of the old car seats until her fingertips buzzed with the texture of the seat. She tapped rhythms and songs against the door, but the time wore away at her patience. Her body bounced with anxiety and trapped energy that the car ride had done little to diminish, It had been piling up for hours- even before Jackson had come to retrieve her - and she couldn’t get away from it now.

She’d blame the stifling heat of the California sun on a parked car if anyone would ask her, she decided. Stepping out of the car onto soft soil ever so familiar. Almost ‘home’, She had made this trip dozens of times when she was younger and she would always stop at this exact point. Her mother would walk her to the wooden barricade and she would look down the cliff at the squirrels scampering along it. It wasn’t until she was older that she had learned to appreciate the view of the ocean her mother would stare at. The whole routine felt ever more bitter now than it had in her childhood daze. But the ocean sent its breeze toward her, cooling her.  
*  
“ Should we feel bad about leaving Kili behind?”

“ No. He’ll be fine.” Dwalin pulled his helmet off his head and tapped her thigh to get her to stand.

“ What are we doing?” Tessa requested as Dwalin through a long, jean clad leg over the bike and reached a leather gloved hand toward her. Tessa gave him a questioning look but took his hand in hers anyway.

“ Won’t we get too far behind the others?” They crossed the old dirt road, ruining the multitude of tire tracks pressed into the soft earth by the company before them. Dwalin adjusted her stance with hands on her shoulders, standing her in front of him.

“ You spend so much time rushing. Just enjoy life for a moment.” Dwalin spoke as he stood behind her. She rolled her eyes. “ Just enjoy the view for once.”

Tessa looked at the hilly expanse of green trees. They watched as the wind whipped the trees and bushes about.

“ Rancho Corral de Tierra.” He whispered to her. Tessa took a breath, allowed the world to absorb her. She leaned against the strong body behind her and shook her head with laughter when he let out an annoyed huff. Lying prick. He wrapped leather arms around her shoulders and she placed delicate hands on his forearms.

“ Slow down and enjoy your life. So young and in such a rush.” He placed his chin on her shoulder. “ Just breathe, enjoy the moment.”

Tessa took another breath, enjoying the smell of the trees, the clean air, the leather of the man behind her. She felt peaceful, calm, for the first time since the stress of teenage years had been placed upon her shoulders. Nearly a decade of stress finally falling away. She felt light and airy and she smiled. A big, toothy, cheek dimpling smile of pure joy .

“ You should smile more.” Dwalin noticed, joy filling him too. “ Life will not break you, you should enjoy it.” He had spent the last month trying to find her trouble, break her down, make her smile. He refused to count the stupid smiles she gave Kili and Fili. He wanted to find the peace she seemed to lack. He had watched the world fall from her shoulders, watched the stress chip away till she was here.  
She turned to look at him..

“ So have you figured out what you are going to do now?” Jackson spoke, jolting her.  
She left out a huff of nervous breath.  
“ Jackson.,” she started.

“ I’m not going to judge you, you know I am not here to ruin this for you. I just want to know what you are going to do now that you quit your job and ran away for almost two months.” Jackson confided, a friendly hand on her shoulder.

“ I am going to figure it out.” Tessa confided simply. The nervous air wrapped around her again like a boa constrictor, slowly wrapping around her chest.

“ This is just, not you.” Her friend stuttered . “ You told me everything, and all I get is a note.” He ground his teeth, “ Was it worth it?”  
Tessa smiled, let out a laugh.

“ Yeah. It was.” she admitted, eyes teary and smile true.

“ Then, you can tell me all about your ‘motorcycle enthusiast’ adventure. And we’ll figure it out.”

Tessa remained silent. The words, the memories, all stuck in her mind. She was still putting all the pieces together herself. Putting the puzzle together, then her life, but later. Now her mind felt to foggy and swimmy. With one last look over her shoulder at the ocean, she watched the shore go from the peace she had been watching, to the chaos brewing. Her life felt more like a whirlpool than she could swim through. Here we go.


End file.
